A Mind of Anticipation
by Alice B
Summary: The quiet considerations of a Princess on the pending arrival of a Hero...


_Yet another offering of a short tale. Much inspiration comes from the book "Anna of Byzantium," which is highly recommended.   
  
Please note, this tale is written in first person from the view of Princess Zelda. Oh, and I will make tweaks to whatever standard timeline there is... So there. =p Standard disclaimer applies.. Zelda is not mine, but this story is.   
  
  
_ A Mind of Anticipation  
Beverly Alliss  
  
I knew a long time ago that this would be the day he would return. I knew this like I know it's going to rain all morning, but by nightfall the sky will be clear and glittering. It's like Hyrule itself wants to look its best. Or rather, being that the land is linked so closely to me, perhaps it is me that wishes it so.   
In my mind's eye, I can already see him, atop Epona, riding swiftly towards the castle. His hair, loosed from the charming cap he refuses to give up (it would only be off now so that he would not lose it to the wind), will be gilded gold in the light of the setting sun. But now it is barely dawn, and the light that is glowing against the eastern horizon is muted and wan, like a child unready and unwilling to rise from her bed.   
I want him to see the splendor that Hyrule has enjoyed while he has been away. After what we overcame and all he sacrificed, I want him to see that it has made our country better. I want him to see that it has made it's Princess wiser.   
This morning I rose before dawn, too early even for Impa to help me dress, and so I did it myself. The process is somewhat difficult to complete, the more complicated clasps and ties that fasten my new gowns evade my fingers.   
I turned thirteen this year, only a month ago. At this age they say I am a woman, and I have abandoned the long sleeves and veil for my hair in favor of a circlet and long white gloves. This evening I will wear the traditional white gown and gloves of the Princesses and Queens of Hyrule, the apron with the Royal Crest, and the far more elaborate jewelry.   
But for now, I will wear a simple blue gown, one that matches my eyes. I have managed somehow to work all the clasps and closures shut, and I hope tightly enough that they should not come flying open. I have simple work today, but I still wear the gloves and a plain gold circlet. Tradition dictates that I do, and I do not mind.   
Though my mind is on the imminent arrival of the Hero this evening, my daytime duties are calling, and I am eager to have them done with so I may concentrate on the more important task of his welcome. This morning I will be sure to check on the progress of the three rooms that are being refurbished and redecorated. Father gave me the charge of choosing new materials for bedding and draperies. I was surprised at first, thinking it a simple task, but when presented with the myriad choices of colors and fabrics, it became a far greater burden than I had anticipated. Father told me that caring for the castle is like caring for a household - only on a far greater scale.   
  
By now it is midday, my morning work completed, and the rain is coming down in great thundering sheets. I have retreated to the Royal Library with a favorite book and curled up in a chair by the fireplace. Impa sits not far away, but writes rather than reads. The scratching of her quill and the drumming of the rain seem to have picked up some time signature of their own, and Impa hums quietly to the rhythm. It is some strange old Sheikah tune, only barely recognizable. Between the song and my scattered thoughts, I cannot concentrate on my book, and content myself with daydreaming.   
Link is coming home. There, I have said it! The very thought makes me giddy, and then, for some strange reason I don't understand, I am embarrassed. The past year I have thought often of him. I miss him when he is away, certainly. Most of all when I sneak away to the highest tower and watch the stars. We always did that, when we were younger, and while we lay sprawled on the rooftop, he would tell me stories of a place called Termina, where he stopped the moon from crashing into the planet. He never told me exactly that he had stopped it, but I know him well enough, who and what he is, to see that he was the savior of that strange world, so like and unlike ours in the same breath.   
He would tell me simpler tales, of growing up in the Kokiri Woods, and watching the sunrise on Death Mountain. He told me terrifying tales of the Forest Temple and his search for Saria. He told me amusing tales of the Gerudo women who would capture him for the express reason of letting him escape. He told me of waking up at sunrise on Hyrule Field, swimming in the pure waters of Lake Hylia, and racing the wind with Epona.   
Some tales he would not tell me. Perhaps he could not. After his last trip he only said he had been to a small tropical island and refused to speak further. He will not speak of the Shadow Temple, even to Impa. There is sadness and pain in those stories, I believe, and I will let him tell me in his own time, should he choose to do so.   
He is the only person I truly feel comfortable speaking with about our altered future. In that time I was hiding, running with Impa, pretending at being a Sheikah boy. I recall those days, half remembering, half reliving them, as each year passes. I suppose I am actually another seven years older than I am now, in my heart. I feel it, but I do not. Link, on the other hand, did not experience the passing of time that I did and still remember. He was sleeping in the Temple of Light. He simply awoke to the body of a man, where only a moment ago - for him at least - he had been a boy. The two of us are a living paradox.   
So, while he is the person closest to me in many ways, he is farther from me in that manner. I suppose I was glad to don the clothes of a woman this year. Goddesses know I grew up long ago, in the future.   
  
Impa has stopped her writing and is regarding me quietly with her crimson eyes. As long as I've been with her, as well as I know her, those eyes still have the intensity to startle me. I know very well that it is more than her eyes, of course: her Sheikah heritage, and her station as the Sage of Shadow.   
"You are distracted today, Princess," she intones quietly, more knowing than I would have thought.   
"Only a little, Impa. I had no trouble with my work this morning."   
There is laughter in the Sage's voice when she replies. "Even when you chose the indigo ribbon against the saffron drapes, Princess?"   
All distraction disappears, and I leap to my feet. "I did no such thing!" Of course, I may have. I cannot remember what color the drapes were. "Truly?"   
Impa does laugh now, shaking her silvery head at me. "No, Princess. I am only teasing you. You chose the indigo ribbon against the white drapes."   
"Oh," I sigh and slip back into my chair. "Do not worry me so!" I place a finger against my cheek. "Though on another hand, saffron drapes would be lovely in another of the rooms."   
Impa, again the serious Sheikah guardian, considers this before nodding. "Perhaps, if I am thinking of the same room. But that is not what is occupying your thoughts today, is it Princess?"   
She knows me too well. "No, Impa. I am thinking of the visitor we will have soon."   
"I don't think he should really be considered a visitor, do you?" She knows me far too well.   
"N-no... But..." My cheeks are growing hot, and I know very well that I am blushing. "I must go see to the preparations." I pick up my book and dash from the room.   
  
The long castle hallways are cool against my cheeks and my embarrassment, and I am somewhat soothed as I walk their lengths.   
No, Link should not be considered a visitor. He is the savior of Hyrule, the Hero of Time. More than that, indeed. He is my friend. Perhaps more than that still.   
The rain outside is stopping, now just a soft swish against the stone, and even here inside the castle I can feel the wind that will push away the clouds. I know without looking that the countryside has been washed clean by the rain, renewed and rejuvenated. I feel the same, moving to a window that faces the mountains and letting the wind brush against my cheeks.   
I hear the new bell tower in town chime four o'clock. The sound is pleasant, and I pause to listen to the simple song. It will be three hours until the evening meal is served, and four until the sun sets and the festivities will begin. Link will come then. I hope he will be pleased with the celebration. I know he doesn't particularly care for the attention, but it is the best way the people of Hyrule know to recognize his accomplishments, and he is ever content to make others happy. That is simply who he is. With a sigh I move on, toward the room I was thinking of, for those saffron drapes. Perhaps the hours will go quickly.   
  
The preparations for the celebration are complete, everything in order and prepared. The clouds have cleared away, and the sky is painted shifting shades of mauve and cerulean and burnished gold. Sunset will come soon. So I slip away.   
I have donned a simple gray cloak over my blue dress and tucked away the white gloves. They are not necessary and indeed are a hindrance to any sort of sneaking about. Yes, I suppose I am sneaking.   
I am quiet on the outside, silent in my steps, but on the inside I am roiling, like a tempest. I am nervous and worried and madly excited; the slowly falling sun cannot seem to move quickly enough for my tastes. I know, like I always have, that Link will be here within the hour.   
I have taken the old path through the garden, climbed through the little hole in the side of the castle that I can barely squeeze through anymore. If I grow much bigger, I won't fit at all. Link hasn't fit since the last visit, and then he went and got himself stuck inside. We had an awful time explaining the situation to the guards.   
The last bit of creeping outside is difficult, and I have accomplished soaking myself and tearing a gash in the skirt of my gown. Impa will be cross with me. But now my thoughts are on the Hero of Time. I feel him coming closer. I know he feels me.   
The rest of the journey is quiet as I slip past the guards and into the village. The townsfolk are starting for home and visitors to one of the taverns. They live a difficult life, I understand. I try to make things for them as happy as I can. It is the least I can do. It is the least anyone can do.   
No one takes notice of me, appearing as just another simple traveler. I have arrived at the drawbridge that spans the outer moat, the entrance to the castle town and our main defense. Its waters are a little swollen from the rains, but still relatively calm. I, still, am not. My heart is beating fast now. My footsteps echo harshly in my ears, clattering on the oaken beams.   
There he is.   
Coming over the ridge, walking slowly, with Epona following. As I foresaw, the sun is just now setting. He is a child of gold. No, not a child anymore, as I am not either. A young man, all of gold, weary but smiling, and a light in his eyes that I see nowhere else. A light that grows as his gaze settles on me, and I am again blushing.   
Welcome home, Hero... I call, in my own mind. Welcome home, Link.   
  
  
_Thanks, folks. Review if you fancy, email if you like, flame if you must, but know that flames will likely be printed out and shredded for packing material (kudos to Beans).  
Of course, don't forget to visit faeriewings.net. _


End file.
